Shadow systems: not the demons IS and IT folk make them out to be?
Shadow systems are applications of information technology that are not under the control of central IT and are often seen to duplicate the services offered by central IT. Consequently, central IT organisations, IT/IS researchers and the wikipedia shadow systems page demonise shadow systems as an evil to be expunged.
One of the EROS researchers has just had her first publication in the Communications of the ACM. In “Shadow systems: the good, the bad and the ugly” it is suggested that
.. technology practitioners and senior managers alike to re-examine typical prejudices surrounding shadow systems, and see them for what they are. In some cases, shadow systems may be bad to the core, but in others they can be just what an organization needs – a powerful source of creativity and innovation.
The lessons learned from the study are:
- Acknowledge the shadow system.
- Learn from the shadow system.
- Shadow systems are in the eye of the beholder.
- Don’t try to control shadow systems.
- Encourage the good shadow systems.
[...] be seen in the words used to describe it. For example, “rogue” in the 37Signals post or “shadow systems” when it comes to IT [...]
It’s always easier to say sorry than to ask for permission « The Weblog of (a) David Jones said this on February 12, 2009 at 9:41 pm |